Enhancing the Europeana Data Model (EDM)

The first requirements were defined by representatives from all the domains represented in Europeana: libraries, museums, archives and audiovisual archives.

EDM has become an interoperable framework for describing digital cultural heritage data. The same collaborative effort now supports extensions and refinements that accommodate the subtleties of cultural heritage domain-specific data. Europeana facilitates this by maintaining EDM as a flexible model and providing adequate documentation to support communities’ specific work.

This White Paper gives an account of the latest developments in EDM and highlights the principles that are necessary for the model to continue as a suitable framework for cultural heritage data.